Orange City tries new way to keep in touch

By Jen Horton
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Nov 30, 2009 - 9:52:28am

Orange City is using a free information service, Nixle, to send alerts to its citizens.

At a recent Orange City Council meeting, Police Chief Jeff Baskoff and Sgt. Greg Lariscy presented the service. “The greatest task is getting information to people,” Baskoff said.

Nixle is a free online community-information service that texts or e-mails breaking news to citizens. It offers four types of messages: alerts, advisories, community information and traffic.

Baskoff told council members that all the city’s departments can sign up and post updates. Citizens can then log in and only choose the updates they want.

For example, Amber Alerts could be one service, or road-construction updates could be another.

Mayor Harley Strickland asked if this would be a frequently updated thing. Citing Amber Alerts, he said he wanted to make sure if someone is lost, people are notified when that person is found.

“I hated it. I could get a call, ‘Susie is missing,’ and never hear about it again,” Strickland said.

“When we find a person, we put that out,” Baskoff said.

The service is free for the city and the citizens.

The site is secure, but for those who prefer to not register, all the information will still be posted on Nixle.

Lariscy also said that unsubscribing is easy, if someone no longer wants alerts.

Orange City spokeswoman Angel Smith said that only authentic agencies and community organizations can securely publish information.

Orange City is the first city in Volusia County to offer this service.

For more information about Orange City, visit www.ourorangecity.com.

For more information about nixle, visit www.nixle.com.

— jen@beacononlinenews.com

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